Energy management method

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/460,306 filed on Apr. 30, 2012now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 9,405,310, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/329,862 filed on Dec. 19, 2011, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 10,416,698, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/302,071, filed on Nov. 22, 2011, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,442,695, and a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/217,632 filed on Aug. 25, 2011, now abandoned, and a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/089,817 filed on Apr. 19, 2011, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,396,602,and a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/075,221 filed on Mar. 30, 2011, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,174,381, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/948,208 filed on Nov. 17, 2010, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,024,073, and a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12,948,806 filed on Nov. 18, 2010, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,082,065, and a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/948,889 filed on Nov. 18, 2010, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,108,076, and a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/893,327 filed on Sep. 29, 2010, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,099,195, and a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/893,230 filed on Sep. 29, 2010, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,024,073, and a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/840,142, filed on Jul. 20, 2010, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,855,830, and a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/840,169 filed on Jul. 20, 2010, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,626,344, and a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/840,059 filed on Jul. 20, 2010, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,509,954, and a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/839,854 filed on Jul. 20, 2010, now patented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,428,782, and which all claim the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/255,678, filed on Oct. 28, 2009, as well as U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/235,798, filed on Aug. 21, 2009.

This disclosure relates generally to home systems, and more particularly to an energy management system and method.

Current energy management systems take a passive role to residential energy management. For example, consumers lack energy awareness and are typically left with having to evaluate a monthly bill to determine how much energy was consumed. Additionally, consumers lack transparency into what the leading causes of energy consumption are at their residences. Some utility companies are providing energy display only technologies that will allow consumers to see what the current price of energy may be. However, such displays take a passive role to conservation, and leaving it up to the consumer to manually curtail their use.

In certain regions, information infrastructure is lacking to enable utility companies and customers to access real-time energy consumption. For example, some regions have smart meters that are capable measuring and reporting consumption data. However, there is a lack of communication and analytical infrastructure to allow utility companies to analyze future demand and schedule energy production. For example, some utilities are providing demand response systems that react to load levels, and force curtailment on residential, industrial, and commercial customers. Such programs have not been well received as they typically inconvenience the end user.

The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.

The following description in combination with the Figures is provided to assist in understanding the teachings disclosed herein. The following discussion will focus on specific implementations and embodiments of the teachings. This focus is provided to assist in describing the teachings and should not be interpreted as a limitation on the scope or applicability of the teachings. However, other teachings can certainly be utilized in this application. The teachings can also be utilized in other applications and with several different types of architectures such as distributed computing architectures, client/server architectures, or middleware server architectures and associated components.

Devices or programs that are in communication with one another need not be in continuous communication with each other unless expressly specified otherwise. In addition, devices or programs that are in communication with one another may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.

Embodiments discussed below describe, in part, distributed computing solutions that manage all or part of a communicative interaction between network elements. In this context, a communicative interaction may be intending to send information, sending information, requesting information, receiving information, receiving a request for information, or any combination thereof. As such, a communicative interaction could be unidirectional, bidirectional, multi-directional, or any combination thereof. In some circumstances, a communicative interaction could be relatively complex and involve two or more network elements. For example, a communicative interaction may be “a conversation” or series of related communications between a client and a server—each network element sending and receiving information to and from the other. The communicative interaction between the network elements is not necessarily limited to only one specific form. A network element may be a node, a piece of hardware, software, firmware, middleware, another component of a computing system, or any combination thereof.

For purposes of this disclosure, an energy management system, network device, or any combination thereof can include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. For example, an energy management system, network device, or any combination thereof can include any combination of a personal computer, a PDA, a consumer electronic device, a media device, a smart phone, a cellular or mobile phone, a smart utility meter, an advanced metering infrastructure, a smart energy device, an energy display device, a home automation controller, an energy hub, a smart energy gateway, a set-top box, a digital media subscriber system, a cable modem, a fiber optic enabled communications device, a media gateway, a home media management system, a network server or storage device, an energy substation, a vehicle charging station, a renewable energy production device, a renewable energy control device, an energy storage management system, a smart appliance, an HVAC system, a water pump, a heat pump, a hot water heater, a thermostat, an energy controller, an irrigation system, a lighting system, an alarm system, a smart power outlet, an energy detection device, a power measurement device, a power measurement unit (PMU), an air handler, a wireless air damper, a humidity control system, a heat and motion sensing device, a smart power outlet, a switch router, wireless router, or other network communication device, or any other suitable device or system, and can vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price.

According to an aspect, an energy management system can include memory, one or more processing resources or controllers such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic. Additional components of the energy management system can include one or more storage devices, one or more wireless, wired or any combination thereof of communications ports to communicate with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, pointers, controllers, and display devices. The energy management system can also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components, and can communicate using wireline communication data buses, wireless network communication, or any combination thereof.

As used herein, a wireless energy network can include various types and variants of wireless communication configurable to manage energy at a site, including associated protocols or enhancements thereto including, but not limited to, any combination or portion of, IEEE 802.15-based wireless communication, Zigbee communication, INSETEON communication, X10 communication protocol, Z-Wave communication, Bluetooth communication, WIFI communication, IEEE 802.11-based communication, WiMAX communication, IEEE 802.16-based communication, various proprietary wireless communications, or any combination thereof.

As described herein, a flow charted technique, method, or algorithm may be described in a series of sequential actions. Unless expressly stated to the contrary, the sequence of the actions and the party performing the actions may be freely changed without departing from the scope of the teachings. Actions may be added, deleted, or altered in several ways. Similarly, the actions may be re-ordered or looped. Further, although processes, methods, algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods, algorithms, or any combination thereof may be operable to be performed in alternative orders. Further, some actions within a process, method, or algorithm may be performed simultaneously during at least a point in time (e.g., actions performed in parallel), can also be performed in whole, in part, or any combination thereof.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, system, or apparatus that comprises a list of features is not necessarily limited only to those features but may include other features not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, system, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive-or and not to an exclusive-or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (or present).

Also, the use of “a” or “an” is employed to describe elements and components described herein. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the scope of the invention. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural, or vice versa, unless it is clear that it is meant otherwise. For example, when a single device is described herein, more than one device may be used in place of a single device. Similarly, where more than one device is described herein, a single device may be substituted for that one device.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present invention, suitable methods and materials are described below. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety, unless a particular passage is cited. In case of conflict, the present specification, including definitions, will control. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

To the extent not described herein, many details regarding specific materials, processing acts, and circuits are conventional and may be found in textbooks and other sources within the computing, electronics, and software arts.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, an energy management system is disclosed. The energy management system can include a database configured to store site report data received from a plurality of residential sites using a wireless home energy network at each site. According to an aspect, each residential site can include a thermostat accessible to the wireless home energy network. The energy management system can also include a processor operably coupled to the database and configured to access the site report data, detect a current temperature set-point of the thermostat at a first residential site, and detect a first seasonal profile of the thermostat. The processor can also detect a current operating mode of a HVAC system operably coupled to the thermostat, and determine a thermostat schedule of the thermostat using the first seasonal profile and the current operating mode of the HVAC system.

illustrates a block diagram of an energy management system, illustrated generally at, according to an aspect of the disclosure. Energy management systemcan include an energy sourceconfigured to generate energy that can be coupled to an energy transmission systemto satisfy a load or demand at a first site, second site, third site, or any combination thereof. Energy transmission systemcan be configured to be coupled to one or more of first site, second site, third site, or any combination thereof.

According to an aspect, first sitecan include a distributed energy generation (DEG) asset. DEG assetcan include various types of energy producing assets such as a natural gas generator, fuel cell generator, solar array, solar concentrator, wind turbine generator, battery array, electric vehicle, hydro-power generator, any type of generator, or any combination thereof capable of outputting energy to energy transmission system.

According to a further aspect, second sitecan include a virtual capacity generation (VCG) asset. VCGcan include an energy consumption device configured to reduce energy consumption or load placed on energy transmission systemduring various periods. For example, VCG assetcan include equipment located at a commercial facility, industrial facility and the like. According to another aspect, second sitecan include a retail center having energy consuming devices that can be managed to reduce energy consumption. In other forms, second sitecan include a residential site having VCG assets that include energy consuming devices such as an HVAC system, heat pump, hot water heater, lighting systems, entertainments systems, refrigerators, or any type of electricity consuming device or system, or any combination thereof. According to a further aspect, third sitecan include a combination of a assets such as DEG assetand a VCG asset.

According to another aspect, first sitecan be coupled to serverusing an Internet or broadband connection. Second sitecan be coupled to serverusing a second Internet or broadband connection. Third sitecan be coupled to serverusing a third Internet or broadband connection. Various other types of connections can also be deployed by energy management systemas needed or desired.

According to another aspect, portions or combinations of energy transmission systemcan be used within one or more markets such as ERCOT, Southwest Power Pool (SPP), California Independent system operator (CAISO), Western Electric Coordinating Council (WECC), other grids or markets, future national or regional grids, operators, councils, or any combination or portions thereof can be accessed using energy management system.

According to a further aspect, energy management systemcan utilize energy management information (EMI) to manage energy production, consumption, curtailment, load shedding, purchase decisions, demand response decisions, or any combination thereof. For example, EMI can include any combination of data sources such as real-time congestion data, energy transmission line operating conditions, syncrophasor data, firm owned alternative energy generator operating status, non-firm owned alternative energy generator operating status, locational marginal pricing data, congestion revenue rights data, energy storage capacity, stored energy output capacity, real time energy pricing data, historical energy pricing data, real time nodal demand data, historical nodal demand data, real time zonal demand data, historical zonal demand data, external market demand data, historical external market demand data, nodal price data, real time energy price data, real time energy demand data, historical energy demand data, historical energy price data, firm owned alternative energy generator data, non-firm owned alternative energy generator data, est. firm owned alternative energy generator output schedule, estimated non-firm owned alternative energy generator output schedule, macro environmental data, micro environmental data, real-time grid congestion data, historical grid congestion data, renewable energy credit information, carbon credit cap and trade pricing information, fixed and variable costs for operating alternative energy generators, production tax credit (PTC) pricing information, investment tax credit (ITC) information, federal grant information, credit-to-grant comparison analysis data, PTC to ITC analysis data, interest/finance data for alternative energy generators, asset depreciation schedules, available solar and wind output capacity, distributed energy production scheduling data, feed-in tariff data, baseline energy generator data, load utilization data, transmission efficiency data, congestion right revenue data, priority dispatch data, federal renewable portfolio standard (RPS) data, state renewable portfolio standard (RPS) data, net-metering data, current or forecasted % coal production data, current or forecasted % natural gas production data, current or forecasted % green house gas production data, current or future coal pricing data, current or future natural gas pricing data, current or future oil pricing data, current or future energy transmission pricing data, forecasted transmission price setting events, virtual capacity data, historical site performance data, seasonal weather and performance data, aggregate scheduling demand data, collaborative demand response data, historical device consumption data, forecasted device consumption data, or any combination thereof.

illustrates an energy management system, illustrated generally atand configured to be used at a siteaccording to an aspect of the disclosure. Sitecan include a residential site, an industrial site, a manufacturing site, a commercial site, or any combination thereof. According to an aspect, energy management systemcan include a serverlocated at a remote location that can be communicatively coupled to a network. According to a further aspect, sitecan include a controllercapable of connecting to a wireless thermostat (TSTAT), an associated mobile device, one or more smart appliances, a distributed energy generating asset, or any combination thereof. In a form, controllercan establish a wireless energy networkusing a wireless communication described herein. Various combinations of networks and variants thereof can also be deployed by controllerto establish wireless energy network.

According to a further aspect, mobile devicecan communicate with controllerusing a WIFI or 802.11 based communication, Bluetooth communication, Zigbee communication, or various other wireless communication, or any combination thereof. According to a further aspect, mobile devicean communicate with an information networkusing a subscriber based wireless data communication network such as a 3G network, 4G network, EDGE network, a cellular network, WiMAX, other wireless data communication, or any combination thereof. According to a further aspect, sitecan include a gatewayconfigured as a broadband gateway such as a DSL gateway, cable system gateway, fiber optic gateway, or any combination thereof.

According to another aspect, energy management systemcan include an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) gatewayconfigured to communicate with a smart metering device. Smart metering devicecan include a utility or power company owned metering device and can be configured to communicate using a wireless network such as a cellular network, a mesh network, WiMAX network, or any combination thereof. According to an aspect, controllercan communicate with AMI gatewayusing an AMI networkcommunicated by AMI gateway.

According to a further aspect, energy management systemcan include serverconfigurable to include various energy management logic, modules, interfaces, database sources, or various combinations thereof to manage energy use at site. Servercan also include a processorthat can be configured as multiple processors having one or more processing cores as needed or desired, one or more databasesthat can be internal or external to server, and memoryconfigurable to store data. According to an aspect, servercan be located in a single location however multiple locations, and server configurations including cloud computing, distributed computing, dedicated computing, or any combination thereof can be deployed. According to an aspect, controllercan include portions or all of serverand can deploy some or all of the capabilities of server.

According to another aspect, servercan include a site interfaceoperable to be coupled to networkand gatewayto communicate data between siteand server. Servercan also include a mobile client interfacethat can be coupled to a wireless telecommunications communication gateway such as a WAP gateway and the like. According to an aspect, mobile client interfacecan communicate with one or more mobile devices, using information networkor another data network provided by a wireless telecommunications provider. Mobile client interface, mobile device, an information network, or various combinations thereof can include secure connection capabilities such as SSL connections or other carrier supported secure connection capabilities. Servercan also include an energy price monitor, a demand response module, an efficiency rating module, a proximity detection module, a scheduling module, an energy savings module, a messaging module, or any combination thereof.

According to an aspect, energy price monitorcan be deployed by processorand can access EMI stored within databaseor a remote data source to monitor energy pricing of site.

According to an aspect, demand response modulecan be deployed by processorand can access EMI stored within databaseor a remote data source to manage demand response preferences and capabilities of site.

According to an aspect, efficiency rating modulecan be deployed by processorand can access EMI stored within databaseor a remote data source to determine an efficiency rating, thermal response, virtual capacity capabilities, performance data, or various other of site.

According to an aspect, proximity detection modulecan be deployed by processorand can access EMI stored within databaseor a remote data source to detect a location of mobile devicerelative to site, and modify operating conditions of sitebased on a proximity of mobile deviceto site.

According to an aspect, scheduling modulecan be deployed by processorand can access EMI stored within databaseor a remote data source to schedule energy use or operations of one or more energy consuming devices at site.

According to an aspect, energy savings modulecan be deployed by processorand can access EMI stored within databaseor a remote data source to determine a past or forecasted energy savings of site. In a form, servercan include user account login information at a utility company or energy provider that can enable a user to gain access to meter data. As such, energy savings modulecan pull EMI data stored at a third party website, and output past or forecasted energy savings of site.

According to an aspect, messaging modulecan be deployed by processorand can access EMI stored within databaseor a remote data source to communicate messages. For example, messaging modulecan use an email address, mobile device identifier, SMS gateway data, network device identifier data, IP address of controller, IP address of gateway, IP address of AMI gateway, or any combination thereof to communicate messages or other energy management information.

According to a further aspect, energy management systemand controllercan access consumption data at siteusing AMI gateway. For example, controllercan include a wireless communication module (not expressly illustrated in) such as a Zigbee communication module (e.g. 802.15.4), WIFI module, Bluetooth module or various other wireless modules, or any combination thereof. Controllercan include one or more profiles stored within a memory device (not expressly illustrated in) configured to include data that will enable controllerto join AMI gateway. For example, a profile can include various attributes to initiate or establish communication using one or more security levels as needed or desired.

According to a further aspect, energy management systemcan be used with an energy management application accessible or deployed by mobile deviceor other computing device. For example, the energy management application can be used to control TSTAT, one or more smart appliancesor various other devices at site. A user can access the energy management application using mobile deviceor other computing device and read the current settings, operating conditions, or various other types of energy management information associated with site. For example, a user can view if TSTATand an associated HVAC system (not expressly illustrated in) is on or off, a mode such as heat, A/C, or fan, or any combination thereof. In other forms, the user can use the energy management application to access multiple thermostats or zones at site. Although the energy management application has been described in the context of accessing TSTAT, it should be understood that other network devices, smart appliances, lighting systems, or any other energy consuming or network accessible device or any combination thereof can be accessed using the energy management application.

According to a further aspect, mobile devicecan include a mobile device application that can upload location data to server, controller, TSTAT, smart appliances, various other devices capable of receiving location data, or any combination thereof. For example, in a particular form mobile devicecan report a current location using a location application program interface (API) of mobile device, and can upload location data to serverusing mobile client interface. Servercan then deploy proximity detection moduleto determine whether one or more operating conditions should be altered at site. For example, proximity detection modulecan include rules based logic to determine if an operating condition of a resource at siteshould be altered. For example, if a user is greater than two miles away from site, and is moving away from site, servercan generate a control action report to be communicated to site. For example, a control action report can include adjusting TSTATup a specific number of degrees relative based on the distance and direction a user may be from site.

According to a particular aspect, a user may have previously established an upper setting limit a user would like an internal temperature to reach at sitewithout having an associated HVAC unit turning on. The upper setting limit can be sent to TSTATbased on how far a user may be from site. A lower limit can be established for a heating unit as well. These limits can be entered using mobile device, a web-based user interface, or any combination thereof.

According to another aspect, servercan characterize siteto determine operating characteristics and performance data of siteand associated energy consuming devices at site. For example, servercan use efficiency rating moduleto monitor performance data at site. Performance data can include measured performance data detected by controller, performance specifications of an energy consuming device that can be based on a model number or other identification data of the device, the size or square footage of site, efficiency improvements or specifications of site, various other EMI data, or any combination thereof. As performance of an energy consuming device may be detected, an energy alert can be sent using messaging module. In another form, an energy alert can be sent to a third party to initiate a service call at site. For example, one or more third parties may subscribe to a service to buy leads based on an energy consuming devices performance eroding. Servercan include a lead generation module (not expressly illustrated in) that can be communicated using messaging moduleto a subscriber such as a service company, appliance provider, and the like.

In another form, performance data can be used to determine when to adjust an operating condition of an energy consuming device based on a schedule, proximal location of the user and mobile device, in response to a demand response event, in response to a consumer setting of a desired operating condition based on an energy savings mode (e.g. low, med, high), or any combination thereof.

According to a particular aspect, controllercan be configured as a plug-device that can be plugged directly to a wall socket or other power receptacle and can include various components (not expressly shown in). Controllercan also include a network interface or Ethernet port, one or more USB interfaces or mini-USB interfaces, an SDIO slot, additional data or plug interfaces, or any combination thereof. Controllercan include an internal or external AC, DC, AC to DC converter power module, or any combination thereof to power controller. According to an aspect, controllercan be provided as a small form factor unit to allow for easy installation, use, and discretionary placement. For example, controllercan include a plug computer based on Marvell Corporation's Kirkwood® microprocessor, Part Number 6281 and associated components. In another form, controllercan include a plug computer including specifications described in “Sheeva Plug Development Kit Reference Design”, version 1.1, and previous versions which are herein incorporated by reference. Other processors having various other speeds and supporting components can also be used. According to an aspect, controllercan include various buses that can be used to install one or more wireless modules. For example, controllercan include a UART bus interface that can be used to interface a Zigbee module, WIFI module, Bluetooth Module, various other modules or combinations thereof. Various other buses can also be used including but not limited to a USB bus, a SPI bus, an SDIO bus, a mini-USB bus, or any combination thereof. Controllercan include buses that can be located internal or external to a housing of controller.

According to an aspect, energy management systemcan include one or more network devices, such as TSTAT, smart appliances, or various other network devices installed at a residential site such as a home or residence. Controllercan establish a wireless energy networkcapable of communicating with a network device at site. Energy management systemcan also include serverdisposed remotely from siteand capable of generating a control action report to control the network device. Controllercan also be located at siteincluding a residential site. Controllercan be in communication with server. According to an aspect, controllercan initiate a plurality of operating status requests of the network device, and receive device data in response to at least one of the operating status requests. Controllercan further generate a site report including the device data, and initiate a communication of the site report to server. During the communication of the site report from controllerto server, controllercan detect an availability of a control action report at serverin conjunction with the communication of the site report. As such, a secure connection can be initiated from siteto communicate site reports and receive control action reports without having to have serverinitiate a communication with site.

According to another aspect, servercan generate control action report prior to a site report upload, in association with a site report upload, or any combinations thereof. For example, one or more control action reports can be generated and queued in advance of a site report upload. In other forms, a control action report can be generated during a site report upload. In yet another form, a control action report can be generated in response to information uploaded within the site report. As such, various combinations of control action report generation techniques can be deployed as needed or desired.

According to an aspect, energy management systemcan be used to generate a control action report in response to a distance mobile clientmay be from site. For example, sitecan include a network device, such as TSTAT, joined to wireless energy network. According to an aspect, controllercan be configured to establish wireless energy networkusing a wireless mesh network and initiate a plurality of operating status requests. For example, controllercan access TSTATusing wireless energy networkat a first operating status request interval. Controllercan be used to generate a site report that can include device data of TSTATat a site report interval. According to an aspect, a site report interval can be the same interval as the first operating status request interval. In other forms, each interval can be different. For example, the first operating status report request interval can be set to thirty seconds and the site report interval can be set to sixty seconds. As such, two cycles of data can be acquired. Various combinations of intervals can be used as desired.

According to a further aspect, controllercan initiate a communication of site report to a remote server such as serverusing gateway. For example, gatewaycan include a residential broadband connectioncapable of establishing a secure gateway connection between siteand serverusing a public communication network. According to an aspect, residential broadband connectiondoes not include a cellular communications based network.

In another form, control data can be provided in response to a detection of a travel direction and a distance between mobile devicehaving location reporting device, and site. For example, as a user of mobile deviceis moving away from site, servercan detect a direction and distance mobile devicemay be from residential site. Servercan then determine if a control action should be generated. For example, as mobile devicemoves away from residential site, TSTATsetting can be adjusted up during a warm or summer season (or down during a cold or winter season) to reduce energy consumption. Other network devices can also be adjusted as needed or desired.

According to a further aspect, energy management systemcan use energy pricing monitorto generate a control action report. For example, energy pricing monitorcan be configured to detect energy pricing within an energy market, and initiate curtailing use of a network device, such as TSTAT, smart appliance, other network devices at site, or any combination thereof. For example, energy pricing monitorcan output a control action report in response to an unfavorable pricing condition, and further upon the detection of a travel direction and a distance between mobile deviceand site. In another form, energy pricing monitorcan also initiate use of one or more network devices at sitein response to a favorable pricing condition, and a detection of a travel direction and a distance between mobile deviceand residential site. In this manner, a user's travel direction, distance, and current energy pricing within a market can be used to determine how energy consumption can occur at site.

According to a further aspect, energy management systemcan also use demand response moduleto detect a demand response condition and respond accordingly. For example, demand response modulecan be used to detect a grid condition favorable to a demand response event and detect a profile preference setting of an user or site manager of site. For example, a user or site manager can set a profile to always participate, not participate, or have a request sent to collaborate on whether to participate. Other profile settings can also be used such as determining an economic or monetary value to a user or site manager if participating in a demand response event. For example, a favorable grid condition can include an increase in the price of energy due to an undersupply of energy within an energy transmission system or market (not expressly illustrated in). In another form, a favorable condition can include an oversupply of energy purchased by an energy provider of site. Additionally, a high demand period can be detected and the oversupply of energy can be increased using a demand response event. In another form, a favorable grid condition can include a time interval when transmission pricing to use an energy transmission system may be determined. As such, an energy provider would receive an economic benefit from reducing load when the transmission rate or rate for using transmission lines would be determined. Various combinations of favorable grid conditions can be detected as needed or desired in association with determining a demand response event to curtail energy use at site.

According to an aspect, energy management systemcan use demand response moduleconfigured to detect an energy capacity of sitehaving a residence. For example, demand response modulecan detect a grid condition favorable to a demand response event, and can also detect a preference of an resident or owner of the residence to participate in demand response events. Demand response modulecan also determine an energy capacity of siteusing historical device consumption data received in a site report, and forecasted device consumption data. Control data can then be generated to alter an operating condition of the network device in response to the grid condition and the preference of the owner and the energy capacity of site.